The unlucky encounter part 2

The crowd outside Oreta was still massive when they came back. But the calm from earlier was not there in the crowd.

"What are we supposed to do here? Push till they give us the way?" Lady Hua asked in a distressed voice. She seemed unhappy to see the crowd at the entrance.

"This is not our way in. Follow behind me" Iris walked adjacent to the crowd line and the group followed behind her with hesitation.

Well, Lady Hua and Sasha showed hesitation. The still unknown person followed behind her without any hesitation. Her gaze unnerved Iris and made her lose focus with its intensity.

And her words - they were not something Iris could make heads or tales of. She was sure she did not know what the other was suggesting but the female was convinced about Iris and her knowledge.

'System, do you have any knowledge on who that person is?'

There was nothing wrong with the one who had called herself Orpheus but Iris could not make herself relax. There was something about the other - the absence of energy.

Or the lack of magic around the other.

It was unsettling to Iris in an unnatural way.

"Hey, go back in the line. Can't you see that there is one?" There was a loud gasp when someone reached out to hurt Iris.

Iris had not realized that people had been staring at her and her group as they walked toward the gate. People had just been too nervous to say anything to their group.

But not everyone was contented to sit back and take such disrespect. Some people had been outside of Oreta for days and were beginning to show signs of irritation.

As such, to see Iris and her group break the line and walk forward without regard to anything else was discouraging.

"Hey, you can't attack someone just like that" Lady Hua scolded as Iris turned around and dodged the attack.

The attacker looked a little dazed before she followed back with another which was dodged by Iris as well.

Iris did not give the female an opportunity for a third one and knocked her out. The disturbing feeling Iris felt just intensified as she held the unconscious body.

"Iris, you alright?" Sasha was the one who recognized the troubled look Iris had. Sasha had seen what had happened but not recognized what the problem was.

"Of course I am. Someone, come and collect her from me" Iris held the body away from herself and looked at the crowd. It had been clear enough that this had been an intensional assault.

"I-I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over her" someone finally stepped forward after Iris intensified her glare. The new female collected Iris's attacker and merged back into the line.

The crowd looked intimidated as well but it tried its best to ignore them. They all seemed to be looking away from Iris and her group, likely in embarrassment.

"You three, stay here for now. I will go ahead and check us in" Iris decided not to take a chance.

This confrontation had already attracted too much attention to them. They could not afford to have any more on themselves.

"Sure" Orpheus called out before the other two could. Her smile looked far too innocent and Iris felt the alarm bells in her head ring.

There was something dangerous about this female. Dangerous and familiar in an 'out of this world' sense.

Iris wanted to run far away from her but there was danger in it as well. And her chances of going back home depended on it.

She could not abandon Oreta for now. She wasn't even the leader of that place yet, much less have it ready for what was to come.

"Lady Iris, welcome back. We got the news that you were back. The sultan asked us to escort you inside" the new arrival at the scene solved her major problem.

Nicole led the group that came to fetch them and Iris felt a sense of gratitude run through her.

Finally, someone who was not troublesome.

She had brought a handful of the guards as well who bowed down in greeting as well.

It did draw a lot of looks from the crowd behind them and Iris could not allow for that to happen.

"Let's head in and have a talk. I have a lot of news I need to report to the sultan" Iris worded it as if she was a worker under the sultan. She ignored the chuckle let out by Orpheus and the understanding look by the duo.

"Of course. Please follow me and I'll take you through" Nicole took charge from there.

The front of the crowd seemed angry when Nicole led them through. The tension was high but Iris kept on pushing forward.

"Why are there so many people trying to get into the city? I thought people avoided this place like a plague" Lady Hua asked as she looked at the angry crowd. Some of them looked ready to cook the party alive.

"The sultan would answer your question. Let's get to the place first and then have a talk" Nicole seemed tense as she approached the gate and its keeper.

"How lively this place is. I wonder how long this will last" Orpheus commented with a smile. It was an innocent and beautiful smile…

…but all Iris felt was dread build up inside her. No matter how much she tried, she could not shake the feeling off of her. It was disorienting, to say the least.

"Do you know something?" Iris asked Orpheus who just tilted her head.

"Don't you know something as well? After all, there must be a reason you came here" Iris felt her heart get caught in her throat at those words.

There was no denying it - the female knew something about her and her real situation. She likely held a lot of answers as well.

"Spill or else-" But as always, the situation did not allow for Iris to ask, or threaten, the other to reveal answers to her.

There was a lot of noise, people rushing to try and break the gate. The guards acted in kind, trying to stop the incoming rampage of the people but to no avail.

There were several complaints, mainly toward Iris and her group being allowed to pass when even the nobles had to stay behind for the time being.

It was clear to see that the situation would escalate quickly if it was not controlled quickly enough.

But the weird thing was - there had been no trigger. Everything happened out of the blue and even the guards looked surprised to see such a reaction.

"Looks like it's our cue to disappear. Let's go and allow the guards to care for this place" Iris felt someone push her inside and she followed along with it.

Green eyes met her own and Orpheus gave her a smile that send chills down her back.

She was bad news, really bad news and Iris could not even tell why.

Also, she just realized that her system had never responded when she had asked her about Orpheus.

'System!

Hey System!'

Iris tried again but there was no answer from the other side. It almost felt like she never had a system, to begin with.

"What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost" Orpheus asked with the same questioning grin and Iris felt her mind go blank for a second.

But only for a second.

"Excuse me. Give me a second and I'll join you all back" Iris did not wait for the others to ask as she banged the door to the restroom shut.